Forest policy (continued from page 12)

LAND-USE TENURE
The forest policy realizes that log-

ging practices must maintain the

integrity of forest lands for future use.

However, the issue of tenure and land

use has to be divided into the compo-

nent of environmental damage and
human conflict.

Once a tenure has been established,
IWA-CANADA'’s position includes the
following:

e all provincial governments should
institute agencies such as a Round
Table on the environment and econ-
omy which have sufficient power to
alter decisions.

e worker forest-environment commit-
tees must have input into company
planning and monitoring.

© requirements must be met for cre-
ation and maintenance of local
employment.

e working plans must include fore-
casted expenditures and plans for
silvicultural programs.

© governments increase forest service
budgets and workforce whistle-
blower protection should be assured
in any licensing arrangement.

© IWA-CANADA won't support a man-
agement and work plan until a
Local Union Forest Environment
Committee has had an opportunity
to study it.

HARVESTING
The IWA realizes that logging prac-

tices need to be altered to protect the

sensitive environment. Although
clear-cut logging is sometimes the
only safe and practical method which
can be used, harvesting practices
should generate smaller clear-cuts
dependent on the ecosystem in which
it is created.

In_ addition, IWA-CANADA’s posi-
tion includes the following:

© ecosystems should be a determi-
nant factor in the type of harvest-
ing machinery used.

e road building is to be minimized.

e harvesting within a licence area
must be done on representative
cross-sections of timber remaining

© worker environment committees
must supervise on-site activities
and work with community alliances
and industry to supervise environ-
mentally sound logging plans.

CHEMICALS
IWA-CANADA's Forest Policy rec-
ommends that, wherever possible,
the use of chemicals be eliminated.
In addition:
e Jabour-intensive, non-chemical

alternatives need to be encouraged.

° worker and community commit-
tees, health and safety committees,
and forest-environment committees
must approve any use of chemicals.

e the Union is opposed to chemical
anti-sapstains and supports eco-
logically sensitive dry-kilning
methods.

WOOD WASTE
IWA-CANADA is opposed to the
indiscriminate waste of wood fibre
and lack of proper utilization of wood
fibre.
The Union Policy includes the
requirements that:
© government set stringent utiliza-
tion standards and enforce them.
© research and development should
strive to create more employment
opportunities per unit of wood.
© stumpage reflects true timber value
to encourage greater utilization.

REFORESTATION AND
SILVICULTURE
IWA-CANADA believes that present
reforestation and silviculture pro-
grams are not adequate and that:
e reforestation must occur more
rapidly.

© Reforestation is a key part of forest
policy. (P.R.W.A. photo)

© regeneration and silvicultural pro-
grams need to be designed at the
same time as harvesting plans.

e high-quality forests must be regen-
erated, capable of sustaining the
same diversity of wildlife.

© responsibility for reforestation must
be held by the company which bene-
fits from the harvesting.

© governments must commit increas-
ing revenues to research and devel-
opment in reforestation, silvicul-
ture, and the proper monitoring of
such plans.

Local 1-80 gets
two certifications

DUNCAN, B.C. — National Orga-
nizer Rick McRae in combination with
the assistance of a new local organizer
Lyn Kistner, gave the IWA’s organiz-
ing campaign another victory in
nearby Chemainus in early October.
They successfully certified thirty-nine
employees at Chemainus Forest Prod-
uct Ltd.'s remanufacturing and plan-
ing facility.

The company, owned by Gerry
Doman, processes custom orders from
such larger operations as Lamford
Cedar in Victoria, Fletcher-Challenge
and MacMillan Bloedel. The owner is
a nephew of Herb Doman, President
of Doman Industries Ltd.

In 1987, the operation decertified
and over the last two years has felt the
consequences of its action. The issues
facing the employees are health and
safety, low wages, and complete lack
of representation.

“They want to meet with manage-
ment on an equal footing,” says Rick
McRae. “If they complained about
some policy or procedure, manage-
ment would just walk away.

As this issue goes to press, Local
Business Agent Rod Thomson is

working on negotiating a fair collec-
tive agreement.

Wages have been on a scale of
$8.00-$14.00 per hour with a produc-
tion bonus system for some employ-
ees.

The majority of the workers are in
their twenties with a few ex-IWA’ers
from the old MacMillan Bloedel
Chemainus sawmill.

NANAIMO TRUCK SHOP JOINS

Following the campaign in Chemai-
nus, Lyn Kistner put in a solo effort to
sign up and certify 15 employees at
Island Mack Truck Sales Ltd.

The new bargaining unit consists of
nine mechanics, 5 parts people, and
two office staff.

Brother Kistner says fair treatment
from the employer was the main issue
leading to unionization. Disparity in
wages existed in the parts and office
departments.

In order to negotiate any form of
wage parity, the employees were just
short of unanimous in their need for
the IWA. ;

The company sells and services
trucks and heavy equipment, many of
which go into IWA operations on Van-
couver Island.

¢ silvicultural programs must be done
with the purpose of adding value to
new timber.

RESEARCH AND VALUE-ADDED

PRODUCTION
The Union policy states that

research must look for environmen-
tally sound products. Unless Canada
discontinues its lack of research and
development expenditures, markets
will most certainly be lost to competi-
tors.

Canada’s position on world forest
products markets is a result of natu-
ral stands of high-quality timber.
However, that timber is being re-
placed by a low-quality second-growth
forest.

Therefore, it is IWA-CANADA's pol-
icy that:

e research and development must
focus on production of trees that
grow rapidly with a high-quality
fibre.

© second growth forests must reflect
genetic diversity of virgin forests.

© research needs to be carried out to
discover more environmentally-
sensitive logging techniques.

Industry presently spends tens of
millions of dollars to increase produc-
tivity. The end result is often in-
creased unemployment and/or envi-
ronmental degradation.

To reverse this trend, and to halt
the rapid liquidation of our forests,
IWA-CANADA's Policy also states
that:
© all exports of raw logs halt immedi-

ately, and industry and government

focus on the generation of an
increased secondary manufacturing
industry.

© government should reward full uti-
lization of forests and punish for
insufficiently restocked lands.

¢ funding for training and retraining
of forestry workers be provided.

Claire Dansereau

(Continued from page 4)

lands were replaced by the govern-
ment with lands covered with
immature second growth. Thus, the
AAC did not appear to decrease yet
the timber available for harvest
was much reduced. The company
was provided with cash settlements
to compensate for their loss. Again,
no compensation was made to the
workers.

Clearly, a system that allows for
ad hoc land withdrawal without
consideration to the long-term
impact on communities is not sat-
isfactory. This is another clear indi-
cation of our need for an overall
planning process to decide what
the future of the B.C. forests are
going to be. The same situation is
happening elsewhere in Canada.
Land-use planning with a serious
look at employment implications is
imperative for the whole country.

TECHNOLOGICAL
CHANGE/VALUE-ADDED
MANUFACTURING

An indication of the problems
faced by our industry is the audi-
tor’s statement that the Victoria
mill only survived by maximizing
quality at the expense of quantity
and because of that they could not
compete for the lumber they
required. A tenure system that
does not allow the production of
quality products is not a system
that will benefit Canadians.

If sustained yield forestry had
been practiced since 1945 with care
for the production of quality
instead of quantity second growth,
would we be facing this situation
today? If mills had been obliged to
follow strict utilization standards
which protected the high volume,
high quality of old growth stands
— perhaps we would not be facing
this downfall today.

Local 1-1000 completes
merger program

Since 1986, when the two Canadian
Regions of the IWA merged, Local
1-1000 embarked on a program to
merge all independent Locals within
its geographic area.

This program was started in order
to comply with the Western concept
of large geographic locals that are self
sustained.

Local 1-1000 took the position of
encouraging the independents to
merge at their own free will rather
than giving them an ultimatum. Tak-
ing this position meant that it would
take longer to complete the program,
but we feel that we shall become
happier partners because of it.

Merging and becoming a geo-
graphic Local is nothing new for Local
1-1000. Thirty years ago Local 1-1000
became the first amalgamated local in
Eastern Canada. In 1959, 16 indepen-
dent Locals united to create a stronger
front for better wages and working
conditions. Thus the first geographic
local in Eastern Canada was formed
with the help of Brother H. Landon,
(President of Region II at that time).
On June 25th and 26th of 1960, the
first annual delegated meeting was
held with 27 delegates present. One of
the original Locals to merge was Local
57, (now LaJambe in Sault Ste.
Marie). This group is celebrating 40
years with the IWA this year.

Local 1-236 (Tweed) was the first
independent to merge with Local
1-1000, Locals 1-511 (Hawkesbury),
1-237 (Ft. Coulonge) and 1-70 (Belle-
ville) were next to follow. Soon after-
wards Locals 1-187 (Lindsay), 1-375
(Braeside) and 1-211 (Prescott)
decided to come on board and merge
too. The last ones to merge were 1-73

(Iroquois), 1-600 and 1-100, (both in
Hawkesbury).

With all the mergers now in place,
Local 1-1000 now has 32 sub-locals
with approximately 2,200 members.

— Joe da Costa

Two year deal

at Ingersoll Rand

DOWNSVIEW, ONT. — A two-year
settlement which will increase the
average hourly rate from $12.50 to
$14.05 was ratified here by a 75%
majority on November 7.

Employees at Ingersoll Rand,
Allatt Paving Equipment, formerly
Fortress Canada Ltd., were repre-
sented by IWA Local 1-700. Local
President Tony Iannucci assisted
National Representative Bob Navar-
retta and Plant Negotiating represen-
tatives Glenn Whilsmith, Jerry
Matyja, and Bill Grenon.

Wage increases include a 542% boost.
in year one and a further 7% in the
second year, to be split up into 3% and
4% increments in six-month intervals.

The collective agreement also con-
tains an increase in the company’s
contribution to the employee welfare
plan package from $49.00 to $59.00
per member per month in the first
year and a further increase to $70.00
per month per month in the second
year.

The agreement was reached after
long and difficult negotiations with
Ingersoll Rand, an American branch
plant.

The plant manufactures equipment
used for asphalt paving.

ST

LUMBERWORKER/DECEMBER, 1989/13